Ears on the ground

KELANA JAYA (May 9^th 2013) – More than 100,000 people attended a rally organised by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) last night at Stadium MBPJ Kelana Jaya to demand for free and fair elections.

The crowd, led by PR leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mostly wore black as a sign of protest and mourning for the death of democracy also dubbed as  ‘blackout 505’ incident during the 13^th General Election (GE13) last Sunday

The stadium was filled with the sound of chanting “ubah” (change), “ini kalilah” (this time), reformasi (reformation) and many more, loudly in demand of free and fair election in response to the result of the general elections carried out on the 5^th May recently..

 

The speakers

Amongst the leaders who spoke last night were PR heavyweights Anwar, Laksamana Imran, Nurul Izzah Anwar, Datik Ambiga, Marina Chin, Tian Chua, Sivarasa Rasiah, Saifudin Nik Nazmi and Fuziah Salleh.

Anwar announced to the crowd that PR will hold another gathering in  Penang this Saturday and he urged supporters to wear black  every Saturday starting this week.

Nurul Izzah made it clear to the crowd that this is not a Chines Tsunami but  a Malaysian Tsunami instead.

“No more Barisan Nasional (BN) after this. We have waited for 15 years,” she added.

The crowd

A fashion designer Mutiara explained  that the crowd started coming as early as 5pm and by 8.30pm, the stadium was already full.

“The stadium is full with all races, ages and religions and when the national anthem was played, we sang whole heartedly as one nation and I had goose bumps.

“My house is just around the corner and I can hear the sound of the chanting and vuvuzela from my house. That’s the spirit we need from Malaysians,” she added.

Many supporters from all races brought vuvuzelas and banners written ‘Free and fair election’, ‘I’m not  Chinese, I’m not   Malay, I’m not  Indian but I’m Malaysian’ and the most outstanding banner was ‘Anwar PM ke-7’ (Anwar is the 7^th Prime Minister).

The stadium was filled to the brim and many rally goers who did not manage to enter the stadium, stayed outside to support and chant.

Unity can be seen at this rally. The youngsters gave up their seats and helped the seniors, they helped one another despite not knowing each other, and  took pictures  with perfect strangers.

Traffic jam

The rally has caused massive traffic jams to road users in Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and the Federal Highway.

The protestors parked their vehicles as far as 3km away from the venue and marched in solidarity towards the stadium.

A film director, Nadiah Hamzah had endured the 3 hours traffic jam from Bangsar to join the rally.

“The 3hours of traffic jam is nothing compared to the 56 years of waiting for a better country.

“We are adults, we know how to judge which is the truth and which is corruption. The government should do something about this,” Nadiah added.

 

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAmVnaUSRrc